Charlie has written about how he sometimes finds himself writing very long comments, which he then knows he wants to turn into a blog post instead.

I can totally relate to this, I have often found some of my best thoughts come out as comments, rather than blog posts.  The reason for me is quite simple.  The idea of publishing a post about something means that I get all hung up about having to say something coherently, or at least with some real thought as to what I’m wanting to say.  It’s only when I really allow myself to just write out what comes to mind that I’m able to sometimes get a post written (like right now).

I don’t write, edit, re-write, hone, refine and then post.  I write and hit publish.

Some conversations just don’t allow for rambling thoughts.  Or rather, rambling thoughts aren’t going to add to the conversation.  They deserve serious reflection, such as Jonathan‘s post about how we define our relationship to  ‘work’.  I feel so strongly about this, and am still playing with this idea, that I feel unable to write anything sensible about it that won’t be full of blatant pot holes and fill me with shame within 5 minutes of hitting publish.

Hence I haven’t written anything more than a strongly worded comment in response to one very angry commenter.

Yes, it’s my stuff that stops me.  And yes, I don’t need to write massive complex posts that solve the issue once and for all (cause no-one’s able to do that in some cases) but I *want* to.  And that stops me from posting more about that sort of thing.

It suddenly appears as a huge time sink, a massive committment to a monumental undertaking. Blogging is not about massive commitments for me.  It’s about writing out my ideas and sharing them because I think they might be useful, interesting or a way to connect to like minded people.  To have an in-depth conversation for me I want to be face to face.  Able to tweak my meaning with real-time responses, give nuance with my body and tone, and read the understanding rising in the other person as I try and explain my idea.  Seeing it morph and grow in response to their reactions.

I struggle to have that kind of a relationship with blogging.  It is too slow, too detached for me.  It feels very one-way.

But then maybe what Charlie’s talking about will help to resolve that.

Want to see more? Try one of these posts:

• What would happen if…?
• Epiphany and comedy
• Getting the creative juices going